Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Every Minister of State and every Deputy has grappled with this difficulty. If we want the rules to apply nationally on an equitable and fair basis, we need to ensure they apply in every community. The rules cannot differ from one community to another. The Deputy is looking for a different rule to apply in his area because of its special circumstances. The problem is that a scheme cannot be run on that basis. We have rules and criteria relating to the distance from the school and the question of whether it is the nearest school. Children have been accommodated in circumstances in which there were places on local buses. They were always accommodated on the basis that it was not being done as of right. The Deputy is suggesting that we should create a right for such children. That would be an entirely new rule and it would have to be applied everywhere. Many better brains than my brain have tried to grapple with what the Deputy is saying, but they have not been able to move away from the sort of rules-based approach that guarantees equity to every community.

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